BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 18
By Fidan Babayeva – Trend:
Due to the spread of coronavirus in the world, previous plans on wine products export have naturally changed, Chairman of Azerbaijan Wine Producers and Exporters Association Elchin Madatov told Trend on March 18.
According to the Chairman, the export plan will be adjusted.
"There are no critical changes in sales abroad and in the domestic market. The beginning of the year is always characterized by a low level of exports. But in any case, the coronavirus will affect the export," said the chairman.
According to Madatov, the main export market is Russia, but there is no high demand due to the spread of the virus.
"In general, there is a weakening of the world economy and devaluation of national currencies. Therefore, we will have a downturn, just like in other industries," he said.
Madatov stressed that in general, the recession will be observed in production, sales and consumption in the domestic market. This is also partially due to the spread of the virus and measures taken by the operational headquarters under the Cabinet of Ministers.
"For today, it is too difficult to make any forecast, but let's hope that our wine producers will get out of this situation with minimal losses," concluded the chairman.
Main exporters of Azerbaijani wine products are Sheki, Jalilabad, Ganja, Goygol wine plants, as well as a number of other private companies engaged in the production of alcoholic beverages.
The volume of wine production in Azerbaijan decreased in 2019 compared to 2018, and made up more than 500,000 decaliters. At the same time, a record harvest of more than 190,000 tons of grapes was harvested in Azerbaijan in 2019, which is 30 percent more than the year before.